Lameness and Poor Performance

Lameness and poor performance, particularly in competition horses, can be attributed to a multitude of different factors. These can be difficult to diagnose and often require specialist investigation. Our hospital and diagnostic centre clinicians are highly experienced in the work-up of cases with complex lameness and/or those exhibiting poor performance.

Dedicated facilities for lameness assessment

There is a dedicated assessment area were the vets can observe horses moving in hand: walking and trotting both in straight lines as well as on the lunge. There are three different surfaces on which we can see horses lunge (hard, medium and soft) to demonstrate different types of lameness. Additionally, we have a 50m x 30m Martin Collins Ecotrack arena, where we can observe horses being ridden both by their owners and by members of our team, and jumped if necessary.

Lameness

Our orthopaedic clinicians have expertise in lameness investigations and are able to carry out a comprehensive range of diagnostic tests using state-of-the-art technology in order to determine as quickly as possible the cause of lameness and recommend appropriate treatment and management.

Poor Performance

Our hospital and diagnostic centre clinicians offer a multidisciplinary approach to ensure these cases are dealt with efficiently in order to make an accurate diagnosis as quickly as possible. They have expertise in diagnosing musculoskeletal, upper respiratory and cardiopulmonary diseases and have access to the most advanced diagnostic equipment, including MRI, CT, scintigraphy (bone scanning), overground endoscopy, echocardiography and ECG.

These investigations can be complex and may require your horse to be hospitalised for several days. When an accurate diagnosis has been made, we are able to plan treatment, surgery or a rehabilitation programme in order to restore your horse or pony to optimum performance levels.